The word endoscopy is derived from the Greek words. “Endo” meaning “inside” and “skopeein” meaning “to see”. This is the word used in medicine to describe, in general, viewing the inside of the body. In medicine, to see inside the body is made possible by the use of different special fiber optic scopes. Fiber optic scopes are like telescopes. They are slender and contain several lenses. One lens at the very distal end of scope, which is inserted inside the body, and another lens in the most proximal part of the scope. The distal lens is also surrounded by delicate light emitting fibers that are used to light up the space around the lens inside the body. Depending on the body region that the endoscope is used in, the shape and size of the scope will vary. The name of the scope also depends on the body part that it is used. Arthroscopes are the type of endoscopes used to view the inside of human joints. They are very short rigid and thin. The distal lens of an arthroscope is very small and extremely delicate. Colonoscopes are the scopes used for viewing inside the large intestine “colon” These scopes are long and have a large lens at the distal end. Still, all endoscopes have at least two things in common. First, they all have a distal lens, the only lens that is inserted inside body so it must be as slender as possible therefore it is not covered by any thick metal or permanent cover. Second, repairing endoscopes scratched or cracked distal lens is very costly. Additionally, damaged scopes are often discovered at the beginning of a procedure and many times replacements are not quickly available. The broken equipment creates an incalculable cost from anesthesia, hospital room and all other expenses related to delaying medical procedures. It is estimated that collectively hospitals spend 6-10 million dollars per year in endoscope repairs. Again, this is not counting the enormous indirect costs that result from delays caused by the damaged scopes. The delays caused by damaged scopes are not only expensive but also dangerous. When medical procedures are delayed due to a damaged scope and time is wasted looking for a replacement, sterile replacements aren't usually quickly available; the patient is unnecessarily kept under anesthesia for a longer period of time, which is always a very dangerous risk.
Prior art has described many devices to protect the entire scope; some prior art has also described small apparatuses to protect the distal end of endoscopes. All of these methods and apparatuses are not completely efficient and all suffer from similar problems. The protectors that have been designed to protect the entire scope fall short in that they are too large and bulky, making them inconvenient to have easily and quickly available. Also, these protectors can only be used when transferring the scope to the medical procedure from storage and after the procedure from the medical procedure room back to the sterilizing center. The initial problem with many of the protectors is that they are not sterile and so are not able to be used during the majority of procedures. Even the protectors that are sterilized, they are not designed to be used during the medical procedure. Since these protectors are bulky and take up a lot of room, the nurse always removes the scope from the protector while setting up the instrument table. In addition, none of these protectors are designed to be used during the intermittent times that the scope is not inserted inside the body. For example, during a laparoscopic removal of the gall bladder, the scope is always removed intermittently during the case, at least once during the extraction of the organ from the body after resection, sometimes again while doctors are stitching the first entrance ports. Sometimes, cases start as an endoscopy but then turn into an open operation and the scopes are removed from the body for the rest of the case. Scopes in these situations are very vulnerable to damage from other instruments and instrument trays. The biggest problem with the prior art describing distal protectors is again the fact that they are not sterile or designed to be used immediately prior or during the medical procedure. Also, even the sterile distal protectors are not completely effective in protecting damage to the distal lens. Their thin tight design covers the distal lens and protects against scratches to the lens but they do an inadequate job in protecting the distal scope from shock that could crack the lens or rupture the delicate fiber optic fibers. Since the protectors are thin and the outer walls are in direct contact with the distal portion of the scope, any shock or trauma to the protector is directly transferred to the distal scope. To protect from shock the distal end of the endoscope must be separated by a space from the protective wall so that the wall only absorbs the energy and it is not transferred to the lens. No prior art has described a sterile method and an apparatus to protect the distal lens of endoscopes from shock and from scratches immediately prior to and during a medical procedure as well as after the procedure is complete